You can’t run fridges or LED camp lights without an auxiliary deep cycle battery.

If you run these things off your starter battery you won’t be able to start your engine in the morning – it will be flat. Also, starter batteries are designed to put out huge current over short bursts to start your engine. They aren’t designed to be drained too many times before the plates inside get damaged and wear out early. Deep cycle batteries are designed to be drained to about 50% many times without shortening their lifespan.

Smart battery isolators

So how do you recharge your deep cycle battery automatically?

You connect the deep cycle battery to your 4WD so it charges from the alternator while you drive, just like your starter battery does.

To do this you need a smart battery isolator to connect and disconnect your batteries automatically.

This joins your starter battery to your second deep cycle battery so the alternator can charge them both while you drive.

It also automatically disconnects your starter battery when it senses a voltage drop below 12.8V when you turn your 4WD off, and reconnects it above 13.3V when you start your vehicle back up again. This allows you to still power your Adventure Kings 60L fridge and camp lights from your second battery without draining your start battery.

You can get an easy Adventure Kings DIY dual battery kit with a smart isolator and an Adventure Kings deep cycle battery from 4WD Supacentre at a fraction of what you’d pay elsewhere.

Which Battery should I run?

It’s all well and good to have a cracker of a charging system in your 4WD, but it won’t do any good if you don’t have a good quality battery to charge! A lot of modern 4WDs don’t have enough room under the bonnet for a big auxiliary battery. But luckily the Adventure Kings AGM battery can be fitted in a bunch of other positions.

AGM batteries are fully sealed and don’t leak so you can safely fit them in the back of wagons, utes, inside and under canopies, trays, or even inside caravans and camper trailers. Because they are sealed, you can also fit them on their side if you need to.

Run a decent sized battery that’ll power your gear for longer, like the Adventure Kings AGM battery.